Christmas 2016 is a bit of a blur. I can piece most of it together through photos, but I openly admit that my memories are spotty, to say the least. I was at the tail end of my final attempt to control my alcohol use and it wasn’t going well. I had set out to get through the holidays without booze, but …
States rushed to loosen alcohol laws in the pandemic. Heavy drinking went up, some studies say.
As heavy drinking increased in some households during the pandemic, dozens of state legislatures passed bills relaxing state alcohol laws, creating changes so vast that the movement is being compared to the waning days of Prohibition. Read more here.
Everything I Learned After I Quit Drinking for a Year
A woman’s decision to stop drinking for one month turned into several and then a year. She says that one moment to do something different changed her life. Read more here.
Thanks to the Assembly for protecting Anchorage’s alcohol tax dollars
Thanks to the members of the Anchorage Assembly for working hard to protect the use of alcohol tax dollars. Read more here.
Are You Thinking About Becoming Sober Curious?
In the never-ending quest for better health, many people are adding “sobriety” to their repertoire — giving up alcohol entirely, whether or not they have an addiction problem. They call it “sober curious” and tout the health benefits of their new way of life. Read more here.
Proposed budget would cut programs funded by Anchorage’s alcohol tax, but the Assembly is ready to make amendments
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s proposed budget is calling for changes to the alcoholic beverages retail sales tax program, including a more than $1.2 million cut from the child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence section. The budget proposes to cut early education grants in half, as well as $250,000 for funds directed to Victims for Justice, Abused Women’s Aid …
What if a colleague has an alcohol problem…?
Alison (not her real name) was just 14 years old when she first started drinking. “It was part of my life,” she says. “I always had alcohol around me from a young age. It was just accepted.” While she started off slowly, drinking was encouraged as she grew up and again when she moved into the workplace. ‘Liquid lunches’ became …
Advocates for Anchorage’s alcohol tax criticize Bronson’s proposal to change to how the money is spent
Jennifer Pierce, a mental health clinician for Anchorage Fire Department’s Mobile Crisis Team, walks along 15th Avenue with a woman who appeared to be in emotional distress on October 1, 2021. Read more here.
An Ex-Drinker’s Search for a Sober Buzz
Just inside the Athletic Brewing Company’s headquarters, in Stratford, Connecticut, there is a long wooden bar with a selection of non-alcoholic craft beers on tap. When I visited the brewery and public taproom on a sunny afternoon in June, during our fleeting summer of freedom before the emergence of the Delta variant, I could smell the hops—the flowers that give beer …